ER VISIT OF THREE 

lUmuE ISLANDERS To THE 
MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1651 



.lirtifi'.l'IfiiSMI'Wi!)! 





,;,;;';h;;| 




' 




,■ ■ 't' 


) , .' 


■ ' ' ' ■ ' 1 


• vi .■• 


' 







67 







tX- 



v.-r 



:il^M 






&^.V^^-^lJS-v 




^vri^~;t 



I 














LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap...(&./.. Copyright No. 

. ' Shelf.^K-C2- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 










Lh,''^*' 



■^v/UX^ 




^ia-. 



^'^L>. 


























^lel^Tr: 









w<.- 













:^•V^^V>*^r^: 










SS 







«^%^: 



A SUMMER VISIT OF THREE RHODE ISLANDERS TO 
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN l()ol 



"Uniform witb tbis Uolumc 

M-Uty Dyer of Rhode Island, the Quaker Martyr 

r. V .r I' 1) G E HORATIO R O (i E R S 



/. 



A SUMMER VISIT 



OF 



THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 



MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1651 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE VISIT OF DE. JOHN CLARKE, 
OBADIAH HOLMES AND JOHN CEANDALL, MEMBERS 
OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN NEWPORT. R. I., TO 
WILLIAM WITTER OF SW^AMPSCOTT, MASS., IN JULY, 
1651 : ITS INNOCENT PURPOSE AND ITS PAINFUL 
CONSEQUENCES 



BY 

HENRY MELVILLE KING 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, R, I. 



PROVIDENCE iljG^^^B^S 

PRESTON AND BOUNDS 



1896 



v\t^HV>Cv ^ V. . \ 



^-^ 



COI'YKIGHT, 1896 

By henry MELVILLE KING 

A 1,1. lUGHTS RESEKVEI) 



PKESS OF 
E. L. FREEMAN & SONS, Pl{l»Vri)ENCE. K. I. 



rilEFACE 

The substance of tliis paper was presented 
at the midwinter meeting of the Backvis His- 
torical Society, held in Boston, Dec. 8, 1879. 
It was published (Boston, 1880), by vote of 
the Society, under the general title — " Early 
Baptists Defended, a Eeview of Dr. Henry 
M. Dexter's Account of the Visit to William 
Witter in 'As to Roger Williams.'" It has 
been quoted frequently as an authority in 
reference to the historical incident which it 
discusses. Dr. Dexter found a copy of it in 
the Library of the British Museum. For 
several years it has been out of print, and 
the demand for it, on the part of the increas- 
ing number of students of colonial historj^, 
€Ould not be met. 

The history of the A'isit has been carefully 
re-examined, and the paper has been consid- 
erably lengthened by the addition of new 
1* 



VI PREFACE 

matter, and made to include a consideration 
of the incident as symptomatic of the Puritan 
spirit, and as shedding- light upon the cause 
of the banishment of Roger Williams — a 
question which a few writers and speakers 
are not willing to allow to remain settled. 
The recent discovery of incontrovertible doc- 
umentary evidence will confirm the belief 
that has been generally held as to the re- 
ligious nature of Williams' offence, and ought 
to be able to remove all doubts from all 
minds. 

This paper Avas read, in its enlarged form, 
before the Rhode Island Historical Society 
at its meeting, March 5, 1895, and before the 
Veteran Citizens Historical Association of 
Providence, April 11, 1895. 



A SuMiMER Visit 

OF THREE EHODE ISLANDERS TO THE 
MASSACHUSETTS BAY IN 1651. 

The memoraljle visit of Dr. John 
Clarke, Obadiali Holmes and John Cran- 
dall, members of the Baptist church in 
Newport, to William Witter, one of the 
early settlers in the Massachusetts Bay, 
took place in July, 1651. It is proposed 
in this paper to revieAv the history of 
that visit, that ^ve may ascertain, if pos- 
sible, the object of it, the alleged crim- 
inal conduct of which these troublesome 
visitors were guilt\^, and the severity of 
the punishment which they received at 
the hands of the Puritan magistrates. 



« THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

This service lias been undertaken solely 
in tlie interests of historic trnth, and not 
in the spirit of a partizan or a controver- 
sialist. A difference of opinion having 
l.)een manifested of late in high quarters, 
and views put forward in opposition to 
those which had been universally held, 
it seems desiral)le that there should be 
a thorough and candid re-examination of 
the facts in the case which are accessil^le. 
When such historians as Dr. J. (x. Pal- 
frey ("History of Xew England") and 
Dr. H. M. Dexter ( " As to Roger AVil- 
liams") who follows Dr. Palfrev closeh' 
and even outstrips him in the positive- 
ness of his convictions, call in question 
accepted opinions in matters of colonial 
history, it is due that those opinions be 
reviewed in the light of all the evidence, 
old and ne^v, that can be presented. 
A high regard for the many sterling 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 9 

qualities of our Puritan ancestors, and 
admiration and gratitude for the noljle 
service which they rendered, and the in- 
estimable benehts of Avliich anc are en- 
joying, make us desirous to judge them 
fairly in all things, and even charitably 
whei'e they were undoubtedly in error. 
We certainly Avould not misjudge their 
spirit or their acts, and if any false judg- 
ments have come down to us, transmitted 
through ignorance or prejudice, it is high 
time they were abandoned. On the other 
hand, a sacred regard for the truth of his- 
tory should keej:) us from an}' disposition 
to conceal the errors of the Puritans or 
to extenuate their sins. Great and good 
as they were, they were not perfect ; and 
he who undertakes to justify all the acts 
of his fathers, natural or denominational, 
will find himself Ijurdened with a grave 
responsibility. 



10 THREE KHODE ISLANDERS 

It should be remembered that we are 
dealing ^vith events nearly t^vo centuries 
and a half old, when truths now well 
developed, full grown and generally ac- 
cepted, were in their infancy and ac- 
kno^vledged by few. We should be 
careful lest we unconsciously carry back 
to that early period of our history the 
standard of to-day, and measure events 
which occurred then by the fuller wis- 
dom Avhich we now possess. We should 
l)e no less careful lest, forgetting the 
c^rowth and advancement that have been 
made, Ave seek to Ining past events into 
closer harmony with j)resent vie\vs and 
wishes than the facts Avill warrant. The 
duty of the historian is simply to write 
history, not to modify it or make it ap- 
pear different from what it is. The truth 
may be judged charitably; but the truth 
is history, and nothing else is. 



m THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 11 

Let US consider, first, what Avas the 
object of the visit whicli Chirke, Holmes 
and Crandall, mem])ers of the Baptist 
church in Newport, made to William 
AVitter, a farmer residing in Swamps- 
cott, about two miles from Lynn proper. 
Backus introduces the account of tliis 
visit with the following statement (''His- 
tory of the Baptists," Vol. L, 178) : "On 
July It), 1(^51, Messrs. Clarke, Holmes 
and Crandal, 'being the representatives 
of the church in Ne\vport, upon the re- 
quest of William Witter of Lynn arrived 
there, he l)eing a brother in the church 
who, by reason of liis advanced age, 
could not undertake so great a journey 
as to visit the church.' " Backus gives 
as his authority the Ne^vport church 
papers, from which the statement is a 
(piotation. Arnold says in simihar lan- 
guage ("History of Rhode Island," ^^)l. 



12 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

I., 234) : '' They were deputed by tlie 
cliurcli to visit an aged mem])er, residing 
near Lynn, who had requested an inter- 
view with some of liis Ijrethren." From 
these statements it appears that the visit 
was one of Christian sympathy, the pastor 
and two other members of the church, 
with its kn()Avledi>:e and consent, niakimr 
the journey to carry comfort to the heart 
of an aged and infirm brother, who, as 
we learn elsewhere ("Ilistoiy of L}'nn," 
by Lewis and NeAvhall), had already 
been arrested twice for expressing, in 
the emphatic language of the times, his 
opinion against infant baptism, and avIio, 
deprived of the privileges of the churcli 
and of the sympathy of those whose 
faith was in accord with his oAvn, liad 
recpiested this intervie^v. This vieA\' has 
been uniformly accepted as explaining 
the innocent, humane, religious purpose 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 13 

of the visit. We have no statement 
from either of the three visitors which 
sheds any further light on the matter. 
In the letter of Mr. Holmes to John 
Spilsbury, William Kiifen and other 
brethren in London, incorporated by 
Clarke in his ''111 Newes from New 
England" (Mass. Hist. Coll., Vol. II., 
Fourth Series), he says : " I came upon 
occasion of businesse into the Colony of 
the Mathatusets, with two other Breth- 
ren." If they were deputed by the 
church to make this visit, this is all 
the explanation the language requires; 
this was the "occasion of businesse" 
w^hich took them to Swampscott. 

In opposition to the prevalent view, — 
a view which seems to be supported by 
incontrovertible authority, — Dr. Palfrey 
has suggested that the visit had a very 
shrewd political purpose, and was care- 



14: THREE EHODE ISLANDERS 

fully planned to that end ; tliat o^ving 
to local disagreements in the Providence 
Plantations, and the supposed fear of 
Clarke and his friends that an attempt 
was about to be made to unite Newport 
and Portsmouth to the colonial confed> 
eracy, or possibly to annex them to the 
Massachusetts Bay, it was determined 
to prevent such a union ; and this method 
was deliberately chosen to call forth an 
exhil)ition of the persecuting spirit of the 
authorities of the Bay, that the breach 
might be Avidened and the suspected de- 
signs of those who were thought to be 
laboring for the annexation, might be 
frustrated. 

It will be necessary to sketch briefly 
the situation. William Coddington, who 
in 1648 was elected the second President 
of the Providence Plantations (though at 
that time certain chaiges ^vere brought 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 15 

against liim, the nature of wliicli is un- 
known), had indeed manifested a desire 
for a union witli the Colonies. There is 
much about Coddington's conduct which 
is veiled in mystery. He was evidentl}' 
a wily, determined, ambitious man. In a 
letter of his to Winthrop, under date of 
Aug. 5, 1644, a letter which Dr. Palfrey 
calls ''a curious letter," written, it will 
be noticed, five months after the signing 
of the charter given to Roger Williams 
for the incorporation of the Providence 
Plantations, he said: "I desire to have 
either such alliance with yourselves or 
Plymouth, one or both, as might be safe 
for us all, I having chief interest on this 
island, it being bought to me and my 
friends ; and how convenient it miglit 
be, if it were possessed by an en em}', 
lying in the heart of the plantations, 
and convenient for shipping, I cannot 



16 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

but see; but I want both counsel and 
strength to effect what I desire. I de- 
sire to hear from you, and that you 
would bury what I write in deep sil- 
ence : for what I write I never imparted 
to any, nor would to you, had I the least 
doubt of your faithfulness that it should 
be uttered to my prejudice." The intent 
of this letter is ob^dous. It was written 
about the time the knowledge of the 
charter to Roger AVilliams was received 
in this country, and one month before 
the second meeting of the Commission- 
ers of the four Colonies. It reveals 
Coddington's character, and his ambi- 
tious purpose. We cannot dwell up- 
on the details of Coddington's conduct. 
Four years later — in 1648 — in another 
letter to Winthrop, he disclosed his 
growing alienation from the people of 
Providence and AVarwick. In Septem- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 17 

ber of that year lie applied, in comiee- 
tion witli Alexander Partridge, to the 
Commissioners of the Colonies for a 
union of the Island with them. The 
application declared that it was endorsed 
by "the major part of our island '^ — a 
statement which was proved false b}' 
subsequent events. This application 
was refused. The Commissioners were 
unwilling to recognize the island as a 
distinct colony — the thing which Cod- 
dington evidently desired — and offered 
their protection only on condition that 
the island should place itself under the 
government of Plymouth — the thing 
which Coddington evidently did not 
desire. That would have defeated his 
ambitious purpose. He declined the 
proposition ; and here the matter ended. 
Four months afterward he sailed for 
England, where he remained at least 

2* 



18 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

two years and a lialf. His design in 
going to England lie succeeded in keep- 
ing a profound secret. This is ackno^v- 
ledged by all. The exact time of his 
return is uncertain. It was probable- 
very soon after the visit to Witter. It 
could not have been before. When, 
however, he did return, it was found 
that he had succeeded, at the very end 
of his visit, in obtaining a " commission " 
from the Council of State to institute a 
separate government over the islands of 
Khode Island and Conanicut — thereby 
setting aside the patent of the Provi- 
dence Plantations given to Roger Wil- 
liams, March 14, 1644. This commission 
appointed Coddington governor for life. 
He was to be assisted in the government 
by Councilors, " not exceeding the num- 
ber of six," who were to be chosen an- 
nually, but must be approved by the 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 19 

governor. Having accomplished his am- 
bitious purpose, and procured a division 
of the Providence Plantations, and the 
appointment of himself for life as well- 
nigh the supreme ruler of Newport and 
Portsmouth, he arrived home possibly in 
August, 1651. 

This act of Coddington is supposed to 
furnish the probable occasion of the visit 
of the three Newport worthies to Mr. 
Witter, in Avhich thev found Massachu- 
setts about as hot a place as a fiery fur- 
nace heated to a seven-fold temperature. 

Dr. Palfrey says: '^ If Massachusetts 
was intolerant of Baptists, and if the 
execution of Coddington's scheme would 
place the Rhode Island Baptists more or 
less under her control, the necessity of 
self-defence admonished them that, if 
possible, that scheme should be defeated. 
Clarke had known for seven years that 



"20 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

his presence would not be allowed in 
Massachusetts. Durino^ that time a law 
had existed which his presence would 
att'i'ont. [This ^vas the intolerant law of 
1644 banishing all persons who should 
oppose infant baptism or deny the right 
of the magistrates to punish the outward 
breaches of the first table.] And indeed 
seven years earlier yet, he had gone away 
under circumstances which made it next 
to certain that had he not departed vol- 
untarily he ^vould have been expelled. 
" Fourteen } ears he ^vas content to 
-stay a^vay from Massachusetts : in tlie 
fifteenth he ^vas prompted to go thither. 
The considerate reader may see a signi- 
ficance in the time of this movement. 
The precise day of Coddington's arrival 
from England ^yii\\ his 'Commission' is 
not known ; but it seems to have been 
when his arrival Avas expected from 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 21 

Meek to week, or even from day to 
day, that Clarke undertook liis journey. 
Clarke was a man of influence and 
autlioritv. His personal character, his 
sacred office, and his newly acquired 
position of Assistant in the government, 
placed him prominently before the peo- 
ple. He was a man of discernment and 
resolution, and felt no reluctance to ex- 
pose himself to personal inconvenience 
for the furtherance of what he accounted 
a good public object. And he judged 
well that, at this moment, some striking 
practical evidence of the hostility of 
Massachusetts to Baptists would be effi- 
cacious to excite his Khode Island friends 
to oppose the ascendency of Coddington. 
" Clarke took with him two compan- 
ions, one of whom, he could promise 
himself, ^vould, at the moment, be al- 
most as unwelcome a visitor as himself. 



22 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

John Craiidall ^vas so far a person of 
x^onsideration that Ave hnd him to have 
sometimes served in the General Court 
of the Colony as Commissioner (or Dep- 
uty) for Newport. But Obadiah Holmes 
was a man of more importance. He was 
minister of the congregation which had 
occasioned the application from Massa- 
chusetts to Plymouth ; and he had been 
recently presented b}' the Grand Juiy 
of that Colony for a disorderly meeting 
Avith others on the Lord's day. The 
three proceeded together to Lynn, ten 
miles on the further side of Boston.'' 
Dr. Palfrey continues the narrative 
with the use of such Avords and phrases 
as " perhaps," " it may easily be be- 
lieved," "as is probable," showing that 
while he regards his theory as probable 
he does not present it as a fact capable 
•of proof. It is a conjecture of his o^vn, 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 23- 

for wliicli he offers no authority beyond 
what he thinks he finds in the conjunc- 
tion of events. 

We pause to point out two or three 
errors in Dr. Palfrey's narrative. He 
says that Clarke left Massachusetts 
" under circumstances which made it 
next to certain that, had he not de- 
parted voluntarily, he would have been 
expelled." This language casts an un- 
warranted reproach upon Clarke and his 
conduct, when first in Massachusetts. 
He himself says : " In the year '37 1 left 
my native land, and in the ninth month 
of the same, I, through mercy, arrived in 
Boston. I was no sooner on shore but 
there appeared to me differences among 
them touching the Covenants cfec." He 
goes on to say that " seeing they wei*e 
not able so to bear each with other in 
their different understandings and con- 



24 THKEE RHODE ISLANDERS 

sciences, as in those utmost parts of the 
World to live peaceably together," he 
himself proposed " for as much as the 
land was before us and wide enough," 
to seek out some other place. Very 
likely had this peace-loving citizen re- 
mained in the Bay he would have been 
banished, even as Koger Williams and 
a dozen others were ; but no reproach 
should be cast upon the record of "the 
modest and virtuous Clarke," as Ban- 
croft calls him, " whose whole life was 
a continued exercise of benevolence," 
and who "left a name without a spot." 
Having left the Bay in order to avoid 
strife, it seems utterly inconsistent that 
he should return to the Bay in order to 
stir up strife. 

Moreover, Dr. Palfrey has fallen into 
an error Avhen, in holding up Dr. Clarke's 
conspicuous character as well calculated 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 25 

to call forth the religious hostilities of 
the authorities of the Bay, he speaks of 
"his newly acquired position of Assis- 
tant in the government," for according 
to the official table given by himself 
(i. G. Palfrey) Dr. Clarke had been an 
Assistant for the t^v^o previous years, 
but in 1651 did not hold the office; so 
that what little force this point seems 
to have, falls to the ground utterly. 

We now turn to Dr. Dexter's account 
of this matter. He shows himself to be 
the more than willing disciple of Dr. 
Palfrey. He swallows him bodily, con- 
jectures, errors and all, although the 
palfrey is hardly less than a moderate- 
sized camel. In his dexterous treatment 
suppositions become established facts, 
and conjectures become accredited his- 
tory. Having alluded to the remon- 
strance which the General Court of 



26 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

Massacliusetts sent to tlie General Court 
of Pl}Tnontli in regard to its mild treat- 
ment of Holmes, lie proceeds : 

" Some montlis before tins, William 
Coddington, sick of the unsettled state 
of civil affairs, which proved to be the 
result of the unorganized individualism 
which w^as then the key-note of the 
Rhode Island Plantations .... had 
gone to England to see if something 
could not be done in tlie way of remedy. 
He then obtained leave from the Council 
of State to institute a separate govern- 
ment for the islands of Rhode Island 
and Conanicut, he to be Governor, with 
a Council of not more than six Assis- 
tants. In the autumn of 1650 it was 
understood that he was on his way 
home with this new instrument ; and 
it was further understood that it was 
Mr. Coddington's desire and intention 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 27 

to bring about under it, if possible, tlie 
introduction of Rhode Island into the 
Confederacy then existing of the other 
Colonies, if not absolutely to procure 
its annexation to Massachusetts. . . . 
A\^en the crisis approached, Clarke 
seems to have felt that a little perse- 
cution of the Anabaptists — if such a 
thing could be managed — by Massa- 
chusetts, might serve an important pur- 
pose in prejudicing the Rhode Island 
mind against Coddington's scheme. An 
occasion appears accordingly to have 
been made, by which the red flag of 
the Anabaptistical fanaticism could l)e 
flouted full in the face of the Bay bull." 
And so Dr. Dexter continues : " Kno^vl- 
edge of Mr. AVitter's case reaching Mr. 
Clarke, a pilgrimage was determined 
upon for the purpose of pul)lic sympa- 
thy with this person, if not his open 



28 THEEE RHODE ISLANDERS 

rebaptism and reception into the New- 
port fellowship. Such an expedition 
had in itself a promising look. It 
would lead through Boston, yet not 
far enough beyond it to imperil the 

desired publicity The scheme 

succeeded perfectly," etc. 

Dr. Dexter rej)resents the knowledge 
of Mr. A^'itter's case as reaching Dr. 
Clarke just at this crisis, as if it was 
a happy juncture of events. But he 
must have been acquainted with it for 
years, for it liad been eight years since 
Mr. Witter's first arraignment for hold- 
ing Baptist vie\\'s, and five years since 
his second arraio^nment. Dr. Clarke 
could not have remained uninformed 
about it all this time, inasmuch as 
Witter ^vas a member of the church 
of ^vhicli he was pastor. Dr. Dexter 
attempts to cover up the real character 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 29 

* 

of Mr. Cocldington's design by keeping 
out of sight two points, viz., that he 
secured in his commission for himself 
a life ajpj^ointment as Governor, and, 
secondlv, that the election of his Coun- 
cilors was not valid unless confirmed by 
himself. 

But the principal criticism upon this 
quotation from Dr. Dexter is to be made 
upon the very remarkable statement that 
"In the autumn of 1650 it was under- 
stood that he (Coddington) was on his 
way home with this new instrument ; 
and it Avas further understood that it 
was Mr. Coddington's desire and inten- 
tion to bring about under it, if possil)le, 
the introduction of Rhode Island into 
the Confederacy then existing of the 
other Colonies, if not absolutely to pro- 
cure its annexation to Massachusetts." 
It will be noticed that in this theory 

3* 



30 THREE ERODE ISLANDERS 

tlie (jiiestion of time is a very important 
one. Cocldington's supposed design and 
its successful accomplishment must have 
been understood sufficiently' early Ijefore 
the visit to Mr. Witter to allo^v Dr. 
Clarke and his companions to mature 
their plans as to the loest course to be 
pursued. Dr. Dexter, in his anxiety to 
give time enough, says it ^vas under- 
stood that Codclington was on his Avay 
home with his Commission " in the 
autumn of 1650." Now, it so happens 
that this was at least six months before 
the Commission was given. Codding- 
ton, whose purpose in visiting England, 
it will be remembered, he had kept a 
profound secret, must have reached there 
soon after the execution of Charles I. 
and the downfall of the British mon- 
archy. The Council of State under the 
Commonwealth held its first meetino- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 31 

Feb. 17, 1649, in the third week after 
the beheading of the king. Such were 
the agitations in England, and such the 
pressure of home business, that two full 
years elapsed before any attention was 
given to the Colonies, or, in other words, 
before Coddington could ol)tain a hear- 
ing. At a meeting of the Council, Feb. 
18, 1651, a committee was appointed "to 
consider of the business of plantations," 
and six weeks later, April 3, 1651, by a 
vote of the Council, Coddington received 
his Commission. 

As has been already remarked, the 
time of Coddington's return to this coun- 
try is a matter of uncertainty. It was 
probably soon after the visit to Witter, 
and is generally put down as in August, 
1651. He would have been likely to 
return as quickly as possible after ac- 
complishing the object of his visit, and 



"32 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

may have brought the news of his Com- 
mission with him : so that it conhl not 
have been understood "in the autumn 
of 1650 " that Coddington was on his 
wav home with his Commission ; and 
no more could it have been understood 
that ^' it was his desire and intention " 
to bring about under it the introduction 
of Rhode IsLand into the Confederacy of 
the Colonies or its annexation to Massa- 
chusetts. Setting aside the question of 
time, which makes strongly against the 
new theory, Coddington's "desire and 
intention " must be determined by his 
previous conduct in declining the an- 
nexation, and by the nature of the 
Commission which he asked for and 
procured. 

In general, then, it may be said 
against the theory that the visit to 
Mr. Witter had a jDolitical purpose : — 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 33 

I. There is not a scintilla of proof 
of it, and no authority for it whatever. 
It is a specimen of hypothetical history, 
with all the known facts squarely against 
it. Dr. Dexter cites Dr. Palfrey, and 
Dr. Palfrey cites nobody. 

IL If Coddington's design w^as such 
as this theory supposes, and the defeat 
of which is supposed to be the object 
of the visit to Mr. Witter, it could not 
have been understood by Dr. Clarke 
and his companions before their visit 
Avas planned and made. 

III. If Mr. Coddington's design was 
such as this theory supposes, there was 
no necessity whatever for this visit as 
a method of defeating it. The hostility 
of the authorities of the Bay to Baptist 
principles, their intolerance and perse- 
cuting spirit, were too ^vell known al- 
ready to require any new exhibition. 



34 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

The severe law of 1644, coDdemning to 
banisliment all persons who "shall either 
openly condemn or oppose the baptizing 
of infants, or go abont secretly to seduce 
others from the approbation or use there- 
of, or shall purposely depart the congre- 
gation at the administration of the or- 
dinance, or shall deny the ordinance of 
magistracy, or their lawful right or au- 
thority to make war, or to punish the 
outward breaches of the first table," had 
been put on the statute book, and kept 
there in spite of the " Petition and Re- 
monstrance " of a few prominent citizens. 
Thomas Painter, of Hingham, had been 
cruelly whipped for refusing to have his 
child baptized. Complaints against such 
proceedings had been sent over from 
England, and Mr. WinsloAv had been 
commissioned to go to England and an- 
swer them. Mr. Witter himself had 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 35 

been twice arraigned before the Court. 
Mr. Holmes and two others had been 
brought to trial at Plymouth, and when 
they had been treated leniently and 
bound over, a remonstrance from the 
Court at Boston had been sent '^ urging 
the Plymouth rulers to suppress them 
speedily." And all this in addition to 
the treatment which Roger Williams 
and many others had received. Surely 
there was no doubt as to the spirit and 
temper of the Massachusetts Bay, and 
no occasion for any new demonstration. 
Moreover, Mr. Coddington had few 
friends and sympathizers in Rhode Is- 
land in any scheme he might propose. 
It would have been voted down by an 
overwhelming majority. His statement, 
when seeking an alliance with the Col- 
onies in September, 1648, that a major 
part of the Island desired it, is not 



36 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

sustained by facts wliicii are known. 
When the character of his Commission 
was discovered, a request was presented 
to Dr. Clarke, signed by sixty -five of 
the inhabitants of Xewport and forty - 
one of the inhabitants of Portsmouth, 
who, it is said, constituted nearly all the 
free inhabitants, that he would go to 
England to secure the rescinding of Mr. 
Coddington's Commission. Dr. Clarke 
yielded to this request, and, in connec- 
tion \^dth Eoger AVilliams, who was sent 
by Providence and Warwick, made such 
representations before the Council of 
State that on October 2, 1653, it voted 
"to vacate Mr. Coddington's Commission 
and confirm their former charter." 

IV. The facts in the case do not 
warrant the belief that Mr. Codding- 
ton's " desire and intention " in procur- 
ing his Conmiission was to bring Rhode 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 37 

Island into alliance with tlie four Col- 
onies, and, much less, under the inliuence 
and control of Massachusetts. He had, 
indeed, three years before, for reasons 
not fully explained, sought a division 
of the Providence Plantations and a 
friendly league with the Confederacy^ 
It is possible that he may have looked 
upon the league as the only method, at 
that time, of accomplishing the division 
on which he seemed bent. When, 
however, annexation to Plymouth was 
recommended, he positively declined 
any such condition of protection. His 
journey to England was successful. He 
fully accomplished his object. The re- 
sult disclosed the full extent of his 
design, so far as we know. Hhode Is- 
land was separated from Providence and 
Warwick. It became an independent 
colony, and he was to be its Governor 



38 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

for life, witli tlie powers almost of dic- 
tator. 

V. There was little ground to fear 
that Massachusetts and Plymouth would 
consent to a leao:ue with Rhode Island, 
on account of tlieir unrelenting hostility 
to the principles and practices of its in- 
habitants. The application for such a 
league had been refused again and again. 
" In truth," it has been said, " these 
Rhode Island people grew, from the 
beginning, more and more intolerable to 
the Boston brethren. It was Ijad enough 
that they should obstinately maintain 
the rights of independent thought and 
private conscience ; it was unpardonable 
that they should assume to be none the 
less sincere Christians and good citizens, 
and should succeed in estal)lishing a 
government of their own on principles 
which the Massachusetts General Court 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 39 

declared were criminal. Even in a com- 
mon peril the Massachusetts magistrates 
could recognize no tie of old friendslii]), 
— hardly indeed of human sympathy, — 
that should bind them to such inen." 

VI. Causes quite sufficient are dis- 
coverable to account for the opposition 
to Mr. Coddington. There were relig- 
ious differences between him and the 
other leaders, which " grew to such heat 
of contention that they made a schism 
among them." Moreover, aifairs in Eng- 
land, Avhich were now approaching a 
crisis, had undoubtedly no little influ- 
ence on the state of things in the Plan- 
tations. Coddington was a royalist, — 
while Clarke, Nicholas Easton and other 
leaders were republicans, and the repul)- 
lican party was the dominant one. And 
still further, there ^vas a very general 
determination to resist the division of 



40 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

the Providence Plantations, and to stand 
by the original charter. Coddington's 
ambitious scheme was enough, in itself, 
to arouse the most bitter and determined 
opposition. 

VII. If Dr. Clarke and his compan- 
ions had planned their visit for a political 
purpose, viz., to draw forth the intolerant 
spirit of the magistrates of the Bay, and 
had been so anxious to succeed in it, as 
they are represented to have been, it is 
perfectly amazing that they did not go 
directly to Boston or even to Salem, in 
one of which places they would be much 
more likely to find the '' Bay l^ull " kept 
than in such a (piiet, obscure, out-of-the- 
way place as Swampscott, which ^vas two 
miles even from Lynn. That this place 
should have been the terminus of their 
journe}' is strangely inconsistent witli 
any such motive as is ascribed to tliem. 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 41 

Their supposed shrewdness seems to 
have failed them in the most vital point 
of their plan. Having determined to 
seek persecution, they took the surest 
method to escape it. 

YIII. We are told distinctly by what 
ought to be good and sufficient author- 
ity that the object of the visit was to 
minister Christian sympathy to an aged 
brother in the church. The visit was 
made to Sw^ampscott because the brother 
whom they came to comfort, lived in 
Swampscott. This statement rests upon 
the authority of the Newport Churcli 
Papers, on which Dr. Dexter attempts to 
throw discredit, in order to break down 
their testimony. He says : " Backus, in- 
deed, professes to quote (Vol. I., 215) 
from the Newport Church Papers," whicli 
looks very like a charge against Backus 
of wilful deception. And then he adds: 

4* 



42 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

" But one cannot help thinking that those 
^Papers' must have been written long 
after the date of the occurrence .... 
and that their author confused the order 
of events." That those Papers are al- 
together trustworthy mil ])e ackno^\'l- 
edged when it is remembered that they 
were "gathered by the painstaking John 
Comer in 1720," and "were derived from 
Samuel Hubbard and Edward Smith, 
both members of the Newport Church, 
and contemporary with the events nar- 
rated." At any rate this testimony may 
be accepted as valid until some evidence 
to the contrary is presented more sub- 
stantial than the unreasonable and pre- 
posterous conjectures of Dr. Palfrey and 
Dr. Dexter. 

IX. Finally, the purpose of the visit 
to Mr. Witter, as thus declared and uni- 
formly accepted to be the true one, is 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 43 

•entirely sufficient to account for it, and 
harmonizes with all the circumstances. 
Here was an old man far removed 
from his brethren in the church, and 
needing Christian sympathy and spirit- 
ual consolation, but by reason of age 
and infirmity unable to make the long 
journey to Newport. Dr. Dexter is 
disposed to sneer at Witter's age and 
inability to make the journey. But 
Witter was within three years of three 
score and ten. He is spoken of as being 
disabled by inhrmity such as '' advanced 
age" often brings with it, and moreover 
as being blind. The journey from Lynn 
to Newport, for such a man, in those 
days, was no slight undertaking. It was 
very suitable that the church should re- 
member him in his loneliness and feeble- 
ness, — surrounded by those who were 
hostile to his faith, and probably soon 



44 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

to die. It is quite possible that Di'. 
Clarke and liis com^Danions may have 
thouglit that in visiting so remote a 
place as Swampscott they would escape 
all observation. However that may 
have been, they passed quietly through 
Boston, and having timed their journey 
so as to reach Witter's house on Satur- 
day evening, there they lodged. It was 
a brave, loving, Christian deed, in which 
can be traced no shrewd policy other 
than the prompting of a Christlike 
sympathy, and no defiant purpose other 
than a courageous willingness to endure 
perilous exposure in order to ministei' 
to one of Christ's imprisoned and needy 
disciples. 

Dr. Clarke published in England a 
truthful account of this visit and the 
treatment Avhich the visitors received — 
to make known, as he said, ''how tliat 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 45 

:spirit by which they [the Massachusetts 
authorities | are led, ^vouhl order the 
whole World, if either brought under 
them or should come in unto them." 
And when Dr. Dexter says that Clarke 
w^as careful to declare that one purpose 
which he had in view in it all, was to 
show how they would treat Hhode Is- 
land Baptists, were they to be annexed 
to their colony, he makes an utterly un- 
warranted, and it is difficult not to say 
a wilfully false, inference from Clarke's 
language. For the language was not 
intended to apply at all to the visit and 
its motive, but only to the published 
account of the visit ; and even then 
contains no such meaning as Dr. Dex- 
ter interprets into it. Dr. Clarke ^\as 
showing simply how he and his com- 
panions were treated, and hoA\' all ^vho 
'differed religiously from the Massachu- 



46 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

setts authorities, would be likely to he 
treated, if they should fall into their 
hands. We have here an illustration of 
how an unresisted bias may disqualify 
a historian for his hio^h office, and ho^N' 
a Aveak theory may seek to bolster itself 
up by a fallacious deduction. 

It Avill l)e necessary to consider more 
briefly the two remaining points, viz., 
the alleged criminal conduct of Mr. 
A\ itter's visitors, and the punishment 
which they received at the hands of 
the Bay magistrates. 

Having arrived at Mr. Witter's on 
Saturday evening, they thought it best 
"to worship God in their own way on 
the Lord's day " in Witter's house. Dr. 
Clarke, in his narrative, thus describes 
the scene : " Finding, by sad experience, 
that the hour of temj)tation spoken of 
was coming upon all the World (in a 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 47 

more eminent way) to try them that are 
upon the Earth, I fell upon the consid- 
eration of that Word of Promise, made 
to those that keep the Word of his Pa- 
tience, \^'hich present thoughts, while in 
conscience towards God and good w^ill 
unto his Saints, I was imparting to my 
Companions in the house where I lodged, 
and to 4 or 5 Strangers that came in un- 
expected after I had begun, opening and 
proving what is meant by the hour of 
Temptation, what l)y the Word of his- 
patience," <fec. But the presence of these 
heretics had been discovered. The scent 
of heresy was marvelously acute. The 
(piiet service in that remote place was 
suddenly interrupted by the entrance of 
tw^o constables with a warrant, signed 
by Kobert Bridges, for the arrest of 
"certain erroneous persons, being stran- 
gers." The warrant, of course, was issued 



48 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

before the service was held ; therefore 
the only offence thus far of Dr. Clarke 
and his companions was that they were 
there. Their polite re(j^uest to be allowed 
to complete the service was impolitely 
refused. They offered no resistance to 
their arrest and were taken to the "or- 
dinary" for safe -keeping. In the after- 
noon they were compelled, against their 
protest, to go to the pul)lic . religions 
service."' They manifested their disap- 
proval l)y silently reading during the 

*Dr. Clarke said: "If thou forcest us into your 
assembly, then shall we be constrained to declare our- 
selves that we cannot hold communion with them.'' 
Their opposition to going to this public service, and 
their discourteous conduct while there, are to be ac- 
counted for on the ground of that Intense and narrow 
conscientiousness which characterized the times. It 
prevailed everywhere. Whatsoever was not of faith, 
in their judgment, was sin. They could not even ap- 
pear to fellowship and indorse it, or to show any 
sympathy with it. Clarke and his companions could 
not, in conscience, be present at this Sunday afternoon 
service without giving expression to their disfellow- 
ship and disapprobation. 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 49 

service, and hy failing to remove their 
hats, which the constable removed for 
them. When the service was over. Dr. 
Clarke rose and said : " I desire as a 
stranger, if I may, to propose a fe^v 
things to this Congregation, hoping, in 
the proposall thereof, I shall commend 
myself to your consciences to be guided 
by that wisdom that is from above, 
which, being pure, is also peaceable^ 
gentle, and easie to be intreated." He 
was not allowed to proceeci, and the 
prisoners were remanded to the " or- 
dinary." They were sent to prison in 
Boston by the mittimus of Mr. Bridges 
under date of Tuesday, July 2 2d. 

The language of the mittimuH is sig- 
nificant as disclosing the nature of their 
offences, viz.: "for being at a Private 
Meeting at Lin upon the Lord's day, 
exercising upon themselves," "for of- 



50 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

fensively disturbing the peace of the 
Congregation at their coming into the 
Publiqiie Meeting," " for saying and 
manifesting that the church of Lin ^vas 
not constituted according to the order 
of our Lord &c, for such other things 
as shall be alleged against them concern- 
ing their seducing and drawing aside of 
others after their erroneous judgments 
and practices, and for suspition of hav- 
ing their hands in the reljaptizing of 
(me, or more, among us." 

The magistrates, in the exercise of 
their judicial watchfulness against the 
a^A^'ul sin of Anabaptism, si('S2)ected that 
there had been a baptism. Dr. Clarke 
was charged also with having adminis- 
tered the Lord's Supper while there. 
Such was the nature of their offences. 
It is not necessary to consider at this 
time whether the suspicions of the au- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 51 

thorities were Avell-founded or not. The 
probability is that they were only sus- 
picions.^'* But, in any event, there was 
no disturbance of the peace, no violation 
of any civil law, — only the exercise of 
the right to worship God in their o^vn 
way, and gather comfort from his truth 
and ordinances Avithin the sacred temple 
and castle of a man's private dwelling. 
We now come to the concluding and 
most distressing part of this transaction, 
viz., tlie punishment which was inflicted 
upon these three offenders, and especially 
upon Mr. Holmes. Having been taken 
to Boston, they were arraigned the fol- 
lowing week, on Thursday, July 31st. 
Dr. Clarke says : " In the forenoon we 
were examined; in the afternoon, with- 
out producing either accuser, ^vitness, 

*This question is fully considered in my "Early 
Baptists Defended," p. 32-37. 



52 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

jury, law of God or man, we were sen- 
tenced." Durino; the examination Gov- 
ernor Endicott charged them with l^eing 
Anabaptists ; to whom Clarke replied 
that he ^vas "neither an Anabaptist, 
nor a Pedo])aptist, nor a Catabaptist." 
The Governor lost his temper, and de- 
clared they '^deserved death, and he 
would not have such trash brought in- 
to their jurisdiction"; also insinuating 
that they had influence over weak- 
minded persons only, and daring them 
to hold a discussion with the ministers. 
This challenge Dr. Clarke promptly ac- 
cepted, and endeavored to bi'ing about 
the desired discussion. The magistrates 
seemed at first to consent, 1 )ut after some 
delay it came to naught. The excite- 
ment at the time of the so-called " trial'' 
nuist have been intense, — not that it 
Avould take much "to put John Endi- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 53 

cott in a towering passion at any time." 
But even Jolm Wilson, the pastor, struck 
and cursed Holmes, saying : " The curse 
of God o]' Jesus goe Avitli thee," because 
Holmes had meekly said : " I ]:>lesse God 
I am counted worthy to suffer for the 
name of Jesus." 

The sentences of the three men varied 
in severity. Crandall Avas sentenced to 
pay five pounds or to be well whipped, 
Clarke to pay twenty pounds or to be 
^ye]\ Avliipped, and Holmes to pay 
thirty pounds or to be well AN'hipped. 
Crandall's punishment was the lightest, 
because he was the least jDi'oi^inent. 
Holmes' Avas the heaviest undoubtedly 
because he had been excommunicated 
from the church at Eehoboth, and hav- 
ing been guilty of l)aptizing had l^een 
dealt lightly with ])y the Court at Ply- 
mouth. Massachusetts sent a remon- 

5* 



54 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

straiice at the time. They now had the 
criminal in their own po^ver, and felt 
themselves called upon to make amends 
for Plymouth's leniency, and to see that 
justice was meted out. Criminals of 
such a dangerous character must not 
go unpunished. Not only his present 
transgression but the sins of " otlier 
times " were charo^ed ao^ainst him ; and 
now that he was in their jurisdiction 
they would make him suffer for sins 
committed out of their jurisdiction. So 
reasoned these self-appointed guardians 
of the new world's faith and peace, who 
looked upon themselves as God's minis- 
ters of justice, — for their neighljors as 
^vell as for themselves. 

The fines imposed upon Crandall and 
Clarke were paid by "tender-hearted 
friends, A\ithout their consent and con- 
trary to their judgment," thougli the 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 55 

matter has an entirel}' different and un- 
triitliful aspect in the accounts of John 
Cotton and Dr. Dexter. Cotton, Avho jus- 
tified the ^vhole transaction, said Clarke 
^' was contented to have his fine paid for 
him," and Dr. Dexter represents him, 
notwithstanding his alleged eagerness 
to suffer persecution according to his 
theory, as " very walling to leave for 
home." 

There w^ere those, too, who would 
have paid the fine of Holmes; but, to 
use his own words, he "durst not accept 
of deliverance in such a way." His 
conscience compelled him to refuse the 
friendly offer, lest he should appear to 
confess liimself a transgressor."^'* It seems 

* Cotton's letter to Sir Richard Saltonstall in defence 
of the Puritan magistrates is a remarkable document. 
In it he seeks to throw the responsibility of the whip- 
ping upon Holmes himself : "As for his whipping, it 
was more voluntarily chosen by him than inflicted on 



56 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

certain from the narrative, not only that 
he was unwilling to allow the fine to l)e 
paid, but that, as he was the greatest 
offender in the judgment of the author- 
ities, they were not willing to allow it 
to be paid, as they had been in the case 
of the others. They made his case an 
exception, and held him to the letter of 



him. His censure by the Court was to have paid (as I 
know) thirty pounds, or else be whipped ; his fine was 
offered to be paid by friends for him freely, but he 
cliose rather to be whipped ; in which case, if his suf- 
fering of stripes was any worship of God at all. surely 
It could be accounted no better than will-worship." 
To which Governor Jenks replies : " x\lthough the 
paying of a fine seems to be but a small thing in 
comparison of a man's parting with his religion, yet 
the paying of a fine is the acknowledgment of a trans- 
gression ; and for a man to acknowledge that he has 
transgressed, when his conscience tells him he has not, 
is but little, if anything at all, short of parting with 
his religion." Cotton seems to have been incapable of 
understanding that there could be a great principle in- 
volved in Holmes' unwillingness to consent to have his 
fine paid, and sees in it, or pretends to see in it, onlj- a 
spirit of wilful obstinacy, which chose the whipping 
rather than to be released. 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 57 

the penalty, — inflicting upon liim the 
<?ruel punishment of thirty stripes, — 
which Avas the penalty for the crimes 
of adultery, rape, and counterfeiting, 
and was, within ten stripes, the maxi- 
mum numl^er allowed by law. 

The account of the cruel ^vhipping is 
.given in very touching Christian lan- 
guage in Holmes' letter to the brethren 
in London. Having been kept in j)rison 
until September, he was led forth to his 
punishment, cheerfully trusting in God 
and in the righteousness of his cause, 
and takino; his Testament in his hand 
■as l:)eing the substance of his faith and 
the source of his comfort and strens^th. 
When he had been stripped of his 
clothing, — he neither assisting nor re- 
•sisting, and telling them that for all 
Boston he would not give his body in- 
to their hands thus to be bruised upon 



58 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

any other account, yet upon this he 
would not give the hundredth part of 
a wampum peague (the sixth part of a 
penny) to free it out of tlieir hands, 
and that he made as much conscience 
of unbuttoning one button as he did 
of paying the thirty pounds, — the ex- 
ecutioner was commanded to "doe his 
office." 

"As the man began to lay the stroaks 
upon my back," wrote the sufferer, "I 
said to the people, though my Flesh 
should fail and my Spirit should fail, 
yet God would not fail ; so it pleased 
the Lord to come in and to so till my 
heart and tongue as a vessel full, and 
with an audible voyce I l)rake forth, 
praying unto the Lord not to lay this 
Sin to their charge, and telling tlie 
people that no^v I found he did not 
fail me ; and therefore, now I sIkmiUI 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 59 

trust hi 111 forever wlio failed me not ; 
for ill truth, as tlie streaks fell upon 
nie, I had sncli a spirituall manifesta- 
tion of God's presence, as the like there- 
unto I never had, nor felt, nor can with 
ileshly tongue expresse ; and the out- 
ward pain Avas so removed from me, 
that indeed I am not able to declare it 
to you ; it was so easy to me that I 
could well bear it, yea, and in a manner 
felt it not, although it was grievous ; as 
the Spectators said, the Man striking^ 
with all his strength (yea, spitting on 
his hands three times, as many affirmed) 
with a three - coarded whip, giving me 
therewith thirty stroaks. When he had 
loosed me from the Post, having joyful- 
nesse in my heart, and cheerfulness in 
my countenance, as the Spectators ob- 
served, I told the Magistrates — You 
have struck me as with lioses ; and said 



60 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

moreover Although the Lord hath made 
it easie to me, yet I pray it may not be 
laid to your charge." 

Such is the plain, pathetic story of his 
suffering's, as told bv Holmes himself, in 
which he sought to exalt the wonderful 
grace of (lod which sustained him, and 
manifested in a remarkable deo'ree the 
spirit of a Christlike forgiveness. So 
severe was his punishment that the 
hearts of the spectators were moved to 
a sympathy which they could not re- 
press, although the expression of it put 
them in peril of like punishment. A 
former acquaintance visited him, when 
taken back to prison, and, as he said, 
"poured oyl into my wound and plais- 
tered my sores." That it was a cruel 
punishment, inflicted with unmitigated 
severity, no candid reader of the nar- 
rative will (juestion for an instant. 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 61 

Governor Joseph Jenks, writing in tlie 
tirst third of the last century, so that 
he must have received his information 
from contemporaries of Hohnes, de- 
scribes it thus : " Mr. Hohnes was 
whipped thirty stripes, and in such an 
unmerciful manner, that in many days, 
if not some weeks, he could take no 
rest but as he lay upon his knees and 
elbows, not being aljle to suffer any 
part of his body to touch the })ed 
w^hereon he lay." In similar language 
Callender, Arnold, Oliver, Bancroft, Gay, 
Adams, Straus and others describe the 
whipping. 

But Dr. Dexter in a remarkable note"^* 
says : " Arnold thinks he was ' cruelly 
whipped.' But Clarke says [he ought 
to have inserted ' that Holmes said ' ] 
* It was so easie to me that I could ^vell 

*A8 to Roger Williams, p. 121. 
6 



62 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

bear it, and in a manner felt it not ' ; 
and tliat lie told the magistrates after 
it was over ' You have struck me as 
with Roses.' Dr. Palfrey suspects the 
executioner had orders ' to vindicate 
what they thought the majesty of the 
law at little cost to the delin(_[uent.' " 
Dr. Dexter would have his readers 
understand that Holmes' punishment 
may not have been very severe, after 
all ; that it may have been little more 
than a farce, an apparent vindication of 
the majesty of the law ; and he throws 
back the responsil)ility of the insinua- 
tion upon his great master, Dr. Palfrey, 
who, he says, " suspects " that it may 
have been so. Having had our confi- 
dence in Dr. Dexter's fairness seriously 
shaken, we feel compelled to verify his 
(quotations, even when he quotes from 
Dr. Palfrey. Turning to Palfrey's His- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 63 

tory, we read: "When he (Holmes) 
relates that the scourging which he 
endured ^ was so easy to him that he 
could well bear it, yea, and in a manner 
felt it not, and that he told the Magis- 
trates 'You have struck me as ^vith 
Roses/ the reader ventures to hope that 
the executioner had been directed by his 
superiors to vindicate what they thought 
the majesty of the law, at little cost to 
the delinquent." 

The phrase used is, it will be noticed, 
'Hhe reader ventures to hope." To be 
sure, to ordinary readers such a hoj)e is 
consideral)le of a venture, in the face 
of the facts as narrated, which both Dr. 
Palfrey and Dr. Dexter must have had 
before them. If it was only a humane 
^^hope," it might be allowed to pass un- 
noticed. But the "hope" of Dr. Palfrey, 
unwarranted as that is, is magnified and 



64 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

perverted into a " suspicion " in the pro- 
cess of quotation by Dr. Dexter ; and 
^vhen lie seeks to ground tliat suspicion 
upon tlie pathetic words of the patient 
sufferer, and to ascribe the effect of the 
sustaining grace of God to the imagined 
grace of the executioner or the magis- 
trates, he is guilty of a palpable, gross 
and unpardonable misrepresentation. 

Such a note as Dr. Dexter's, the in- 
tent of A\ hich is so manifestly nncandid, 
and which presents a monstrous distor- 
tion of the truth, is sufficient to destroy 
confidence in any volume, or in the 
honest purpose of the authoi* to ^vnte 
history fairly. 

The Puritan mas^istrates were in no 
mood to play a farce ; they Avere in dead 
earnest. Tlie>' ^vere l)ent on traged}'. 
In their judgment Holmes was guilty 
of a most serious crime. Governor En- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY G5 

dicott had told him he deserved death, 
and the meek pastor, John Wilson, liad 
"struck and cursed" the prisoner in holy 
indignation, in "the exquisite rancor of 
theological hatred." The executioner is 
represented as "striking with all his 
strength, jea, spitting on liis hands 
three times, as many affirmed/' War- 
rants were issued for no less than thir- 
teen persons who were unable to repress 
their compassion for Holmes at the time 
of the ^vhipping. The most of them, 
however, escaped. Tw^o only, — John 
Sj^ur and Jolm Hazel, wlio liad taken 
the Ideeding sufferer by the hand as he 
was led a^vay from the whipping-post, — 
were arrested ; and it is more than inti- 
mated that there would have been more 
whipping had not the executioner taken 
himself out of the way so that he could 
not be found. — having probably liad 

6* 



66 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

enough of the l)loody work. There is 
only one possible conclusion to l)e ac- 
cepted, viz., that never was sentence of 
court executed more literally, never did 
executioner do his work more faithfully. 
It has not been a pleasant duty to 
dwell upon these painful details. But 
the memories of men who were loyal to 
their convictions of truth and the rights 
of conscience, and to their more perfect 
views of soul - liberty, are as sacred as 
the memories of those ^vho made them 
to suffer, and as worthy of being pro- 
tected from sacrilegious assault. Better 
that this ^vhole transaction should l)e 
passed by in silence — as it was by Cap- 
tain Johnson in his "History of 1H54," 
by Mr. Morton in his "New England 
Memorial of 1669," by Mr. Hubl)ard in 
his "History of 1680," by Cotton Mather 
in his "History of 1702 " and l)y Gover- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS 15AY 67 

nor Hutcliinson in the first two volumes 
of his History — than tliat, for the sake 
of justifying the persecutors, the motives 
of the 23ersecuted should be maligned, 
and their sufferings for the sake of con- 
science and liberty should be made light 
of. John Clarke, the learned physician 
and able pastor of the Newport Baptist 
Church Avas in some res^Dects the peer 
of Koger Williams, though less ^videly 
known and honored.* Obadiah Holmes, 

*Rc'V. John Callender says of Dr. Clarke : " He was 
a faithful and useful minister, courteous in all the re- 
lations of life, and an ornament to his profession and to 
the several offices which he sustained. His memory is 
deserving of lasting honor for his efforts toward estab- 
lishing the first government in the world which gave 
to all equal civil and religious liberty. To no man is 
Rhode Island more indebted than to him. He was one 
of the original projectors of the settlement of the Is- 
land, and one of its ablest legislators. No character in 
New England is of purer fame than John Clarke." It 
is not known where Dr. Clarke was educated ; but the. 
following item in his will shows him to have been a 
man of wide learning and studious habits : " Unto my 
-loving friend, Richard Bayley, I give and bequeath my 



/ 



68 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

the martyr of heavenly spirit and trium- 
phant faith, was Dr. Clarke's honored 
successor in the pastoral office for thirty 
years."^ The unchristian and inhuman 
treatment of these worthies called forth 
remonstrances on both sides of the At- 
lantic. Sir Richard Saltonstall, one of 
the first magistrates of the Massachu- 

eoDcordance and lexicon thereto belonging, written by 
myself, being the fruit of several years' study, my 
Hebrew Bible, Buxtortf's and Parsons' lexicons, Cot- 
ton's Concordance, and all the rest of my books." He 
did not return from his mission to England till 1664, 
having remained there as the agent of the Colon}'. He 
died April 20, 1676. 

*Obadiah Holmes was born at Preston, Lancashire, 
England, about the year 1606, and came to this country 
about 1639. He belonged to a family of considerable 
means and of acknowledged respectability. He said of 
his parents : "They were faithful in their generation, 
and of good report among men, and brought up their 
children tenderly and honorably." Three sous were 
educated at Oxford, one of whom was probably Oba- 
diah. This is evidence that the famil}' was in ample 
circumstances and of more than ordinary culture. Oba- 
diah Holmes died in 1682, leaving a large posterity, 
some of whom have obtained distinction in the learned 
professions. 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 69 

:setts Bay, who was at the time iu Eng- 
land, wrote sharply rebuking Cotton and 
Wilson for their "tyranny and persecu- 
tion in New England as that you line, 
whip and imprison men for their con- 
sciences We pray for you and 

wish you prosperity everj^ way; hoped 
the Lord would have given you so much 
light and love there, that you might 
have been eyes to God's people here, 
and not to practice those courses in a 
Avilderness which you went so far to 
prevent." And Koger Williams — the 
great apostle of religious lil^erty, whose 
voice, from before his l)anishment until 
the day of his death, ceased not to pro- 
claim the sul)lime principle of ^vhich his 
name Avill ever ])e the illustrious expo- 
nent — wrote to Governor Endicott such 
characteristic words as these: '^Sir, I 
must be huml)ly ])old to say 'tis impos- 



70 THREE EHODE ISLANDERS 

siljle for any man or men to maintain 
their Christ hy their sword, and to ^vor- 
ship a true Christ ! to fight against all 
■consciences opposite theirs, and not to 
fight against God in some of them, and 
to hunt after the precious life of the 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

The true philosophical historian can- 
not treat this incident, which ^^e have 
been considering, as an isolated phenom- 
enon. It was symptomatic of a social 
condition and of a prevailing religious 
spirit. It reveals to us the attitude — 
conscientious, indeed, but nevertheless 
the attitude — of the ruling; minds amons^ 
the Puritans. It was not necessary for 
a man to l)e a disturber of the ])eace in 
order to be whipped or l)anished ; or 
rather, A\'lioe\ er differed from them in 
religious faith or practice, and claimed 
the rio^ht to indul^^e the exercise thereof. 



IN THE .MASSACHUSETTS BAY 71 

was, in their judgment, a distnrber of 
the peace. Uniformity of religious be- 
lief was the animating purpose of their 
government, the sacred end of their leg- 
islation, a principal object of their social 
compact and existence. The language 
c^f James I. expressed their sentiment 
towards all dissentients : " I will make 
them conform, or I will harry them out 
of my kingdom." There are men to-day 
who boast of their descent from the 
Pnritans, and laud their excellencies — 
and rightly so — who would not have 
been allowed to remain within their bor- 
ders twenty -four hours unmolested. 

This incident throws its light upon that 
long series of persecutions, in which the 
Puritan magistrates solemnly delighted 
themselves, of Church of England men, 
Antinomians, Quakers, and Anabaptists. 
This incident throws light — if any is 



72 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

needed — upon the cause of the banish- 
ment of Roger Williams, which some- 
what memorable event took place only 
fifteen years before. The spirit of the 
Puritan masristrates had suffered no 
change in that interval of time. It was 
neither better, nor worse, nor different. 
They tried to be consistent, and to make 
their principles of Churcli and State 
trium23hant, though no candid man is 
noAv rash enough to say that those prin- 
ciples were right. Dr. George E. Ellis 
has truly said : ^'Intolerance was a neces- 
sary condition of their enterprise. They 
feared and hated religious liberty." In 
parallel words Professor J. L. Dinian 
describes them as "intolerant of differ- 
ence of oj^inion, regarding liberty of 
conscience with equal fear and hate." 
And so they feared and hated Poger 
Williams, ^vho not onlv entertained 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 73 

broad and correct views of religious 
liberty, but advocated tlieiii as oppor- 
tunity offered itself. 

To make a distinction between a 
man's religious opinions and his dispo- 
sition, whose only offending was that 
it defended those opinions, is to make 
a distinction without great dift'erence. 
The phrase " disturber of the peace " 
did not then signify any such thing as 
it means to-day. None of those offend- 
ers had been guilty of any overt acts 
against civil laws, but only of violation 
of religious laws which were incorpo- 
rated into civil legislation. To hold 
religious opinions different from those 
of the magistrates and the body of the 
people, and to be disposed to advocate 
them, Avas to be wickedly contentious 
and criminal according to their stand- 
ards. Religious offenders were politi- 



74 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

cal oftenders. It is evident enough to 
candid students of colonial liist(^)ry that 
it was not Roger Williams' disposition^ 
in distinction from his religious vie^vs, 
that caused his banishment, but the dis- 
position of the Puritan magistrates. 

They indulged in no such hair-split- 
ting and specious methods. To them 
Roger Williams represented views and 
ideas of liberty which they "feared 
and hated." He was already accused 
of anabaptism. It is recorded that 
Elder Brewster, in 1633 or 1634, pre- 
vailed with the church in Plymouth 
to grant Williams' request for dismis- 
sion, " fearing that he would run the 
same course of rigid separation and 
anabaptistry Avhich Mr. Jolm Smyth 
at iVmsterdam had done," and that at 
Salem, where the church though ^varned 
airainst him had received him, "in one 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 75 

year's time lie bad filled that place ^\'itli 
principles of rigid separation and tend- 
ing to anabaptism." 

Anabaptisni was the synonym of re- 
ligious liberty. It had l)een before 
Christendom as a distinct movement for 
a hundred years, — in Switzerland and 
Germany, in Holland, and in England. 
Its first confession of faith, issued in 
1527 at Schleithheim, a little to^vn near 
Schaffhausen, openly claimed and pro- 
claimed religious liberty. In the Neth- 
erlands, during all the fierce struggle 
for civil liberty, these people, it is said, 
^' kept intact their ideas of religious 
liberty. " The confession of faith issued 
by the x\nabaptists in London in 1611 
contained the enunciation of the same 
great principle ; and in all these lands 
their fidelity cost them their lives. 
Mark Pattison, in his biogra})liy of 



76 THREE EHODE ISLANDERS 

John Milton, ^vhose Ijroad views of tol- 
eration are well kuoAvn, says, that on 
that account " every Philistine leveled 
at him the contemptuous epithet of An- 
abaptist most freely." So thoroughly 
was anabaptism identified with religious 
liberty, that, if any man advocated a 
more generous toleration, this epithet 
^vas hurled at him, and not only in 
the old Avorld, but in this new world 
as well. 

Koger Williams was, if not already 
an Anabaptist, fast tending to it. The 
Puritan magistrates understood perfectly 
what he stood for, — if some of their 
modern misinterpreters do not. Arnold 
says: "To fasten upon Roger Williams 
the stigma of factious opposition to the 
government is to l^elie liistory, by an 
eifort to vindicate bigotry and tyranny 
at the expense of truth." In the cliai'ge 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 77 

against Williams — under Avliicli he Avas 
tried, convicted and banished — the first 
item, which may be supposed to contain 
the gravamen of their accusation, is : 
"That the magistrate ought not to 
punish the breach of the first Table 
except when the civil peace is endan- 
gered." AMiile announcing the doctrine 
of the separation of Church and State, 
instead of Ijeing "a disturber of the 
peace," he is represented as carefully 
guarding it. In a summary of tlie 
charges against him, prepared by AVil- 
liams himself in 1644, occurs the fol- 
lowing specification : " That the civil 
magistrate's po^ver extends only to the 
bodies and goods and outward state of 
men." Governor Ha> nes was still livino; 
and the most of the others also who had 
had a hand in the l^anishment ; but no 
denial of this specification was ever made. 



78 THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

Again in 1652, in the letter of Wil- 
liams to Governor Endicott — already 
qnoted — wliich was occasioned by the 
cruel treatment of these peaceable Khode 
Island visitors, the writer says : " At 
present let it not be offensive in your 
eyes that I single out another, a fourth 
point, a cavsie of my hanisliraent aJso, 
wherein I greatl}' fear one or t^vo sad 
evils which have befallen your soul and 
conscience ; the point is that of the civil 
magistrate dealing in matters of con- 
science and religion J as also of persecuting 
and hunting any for matters merely S2yir- 
itual or religious^ Notice the phrase 
" a cause of my banishment also," as de- 
termining the fact that the same spirit 
of religious persecution Avhicli Avhipped 
Holmes banished Williams. 

Moreover, in order to remove all ques- 
tion or doubt, if any remain in the minds 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 79 

of any persons, as to the cause of Wil- 
liams' baiiisliment, and to establisli con- 
clusively the fact that it was a difference 
of religious opinion that made him ob- 
noxious to the Puritan magistrates, and 
that it A\as religious persecution that 
drove him out into the wilderness, ^ve 
may cite an Act passed by the Council 
of Massachusetts, March 31st, 1676, con- 
ditionally revoking the original act of 
banishment. It is only recently that 
attention has l)een called to this act. 
It Avas published 1^}^ Massachusetts in 
1859 in Vol. II. of the "Acts of the 
Commissioners of the United Colonies." 
It was discovered in the Massachusetts 
archives after the printing of the Ijod) 
of the volume, and placed in the Intro- 
duction, and so Avas not properly in- 
dexed. It reads as follows : 

'' Whereas, Mr. Roger Williams stands 



so THREE RHODE ISLANDERS 

at present under a sentence of Restraint 
from coming into this colony, }'et con- 
sidering lioAv readyly <fc freely at all 
tymes be hatli served the English In- 
terest in this time of warre ^vith the 
Indians, and manifested his particular 
respects to the authority of this Colony 
in several services desired of him, and 
further understanding: hoAv h\ the last 
assault of the Indians upon Providence 
his house is burned and himself in his 
old aa'e ]'educed to an uncomfortable 
and disal)led state — Out of c(jm})assion 
to him in this condition the Council doe 
Order and Declare that if the sayed Mr. 
Williams shall see cause and desire it, 
he shall have liljerty to repayre into 
any of our To\vns for his securit}' and 
comfortal)le abode during these Public 
Troubles, he behaving himself peaceal)ly 
nud inoffensively and ?2ot disseivinating 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 81 

>cind venting cDiy of Id^ different opinions 
in matters of relief ion to the dissatisfac- 
tion of any." 

Forty years had gone by. Some of 
the actors in 1636 had undoubtedly — 
like Williams — been spared to 1676. 
He had gone out of their l)orders, l)ut 
not out of their kno^vledge or out of 
their necessity. T^vice at least, by his 
friendly interposition with the Indians, 
he had probabl}' saved the inhabitants 
of the Ba}' from annihilation. He had 
heaped coals of fire upon their heads. 
He had asked the privilege of simply 
crossinsf their territor>^ on the way to 
England, and had l)een refused. He 
had been tlieir neighbor, Ijut ^^'as still 
^'feared and hated." They kept him 
at arm's length, lest the pestilential 
princi]3les Avhich he advocated and fos- 
tered across the line should infect them. 



-82 THEEE ERODE ISLANDERS 

John AViiitlirop, Avho had assented to 
his banishment, had indeed shown a 
disposition to recall him, and to "confer 
npon him some mark of distinguished 
favor for his services.'' But adverse 
counsels long prevailed, until at length 
touched to some slight appreciation of 
his generous and self-sacrificing services 
in their behalf, and to some slight sym- 
pathy for his age and sujDposed suffering 
and poverty, but not to any mai'ked 
degree of penitence for their past con- 
duct, they were prompted to revoke the 
^ct of banishment, and to permit him to 
return temporarily "during these puljlic 
troubles," — still, however, rememljering 
the nature of his offence by adding this 
significant condition, that he shall "not 
disseminate and vent any of his differ- 
ent o})inions in matters of religion." 
Dr. Dexter, ^vhose reputation as an ex- 



IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 85 

plorer of colonial literature was very 
great, confessedly Avrote his monograph 
" because of the limited ac(|uaintance of 
some of the earliest historians with the 
facts," and because they did not go back 
to "the only original authorities." This, 
act of revocation must have escaped this 
careful and l)oastfully thorough inves- 
tigator, — or, perhaps we should come 
nearer the truth if we said, he seems to 
have escaped it. As a revocation it 
could not have amounted to much to- 
Roger Williams, for we cannot conceive 
of him as accepting such liberty at the 
price of stilled convictions, and as sur- 
rendering the priceless principle for 
which he had once suffered the loss of 
all things. But this act of 1676 ought 
to settle all dispute as to the cause of 
the banishment of Roger AVilliams, and 
to settle it forever. 



APPENDIXES 



APPENDIX I 

Wmi'antfor the arrest of Clarhe, Ilohaes and 
Crandall, 

" By virtue hereof, you are required to go 
to the house of William Witter, and so to 
search from house to house, for certain erro- 
nious persons, being Strangers, and them to 
apprehend, and in safe custody to keep, and 
tomorrow morning by eight of the Clock to 
bring before me. 

EoBEET Bridges." 

Copy of the Mitthnus. 

" To the Keei3er of the Prison at Boston, 

By virtue hereof you are required to take 
into your custody from the Constable of Lin, 
or his Deputy, the bodies of John Clark, 
Obediah Holmes, and John Crandall, and 
them to keep, untill the next County Court to 



88 APPENDIX I 

be lield at Boston, that tliey may then and 
there answer to such complaints as may be 
alleged against them, for being taken by the 
Constable at a Private Meeting at Lin upon 
the Lords day, exercising among themselves, 
to whom divers of the Town repaired, and 
joyned with them, and that in the time of 
Publick exercise of the Worship of God ; as 
also for offensively disturbing the peace of 
the Congregation at their coming into the 
Publique Meeting in the time of Prayer in 
the afternoon, and for saying and manifest- 
ing that the Church of Lin was not consti- 
tuted according to the order of our Lord, 
&G., for such other things as shall be alleged 
against them, concerning their seducing and 
drawing aside of others after their erroneous 
judgements and practices, and for susjoition 
of having their hands in the re-baptizing of 
one, or more among us, as also for neglecting 
or refusing to give in sufficient security for 
their apjDearance at the said Court; hereof 
fail not at your perill, 22. 5. 51. 

KoB. Bridges." 



APPENDIX I 89 

The iseiitence of llohneti^ {the sentences of Clarke 
and Crandall icere drawn nj) in siimlar lan- 
guage, the7'e heing slight valuations in the 
accusations and the j^^^icdties.) 

" Forasmuch as yon Obecliali Holmes, being 
come into this Jurisdiction about the 21 of 
the 5th M. did meet at one William Witters 
house at Lin, and did hear privately (and at 
other times being an Excommunicate j)erson 
did take upon you to Preach and to Baptize) 
upon the Lords day, and other dayes, and 
being taken then by the Constable, and coming 
afterwards to the Assembly at Lin, did in dis- 
resi3ect of the Ordinance of God and his 
AVorship, keep on your hat, the Pastor being 
in Prayer, insomuch that you would not give 
reverence in veiling your hat, till it was forced 
off your head to the disturbance of the Con- 
gregation, and professing against the Insti- 
tution of the Church, as not being according 
to the Gospell of Jesus Christ, and that you 
the said Obediah Holmes did upon the day 
following meet again at the said Williams 
Witters, in contem^Dt of Authority, j^ou being 

8* 



90 APPENDIX I 

tlien in the custody of the Law, and did there 
receive the Sacrament, being Excommunicate, 
and you did Baptize such as were Baptized 
before, and thereby did necessarily deny the 
Baptism that was before administered to be 
Baptism, the Churches no Churches, and also 
other Ordinances, and Ministers, as if all 
were a Nullity ; And also did deny the law- 
fullness of Baptizing of Infants, and all this 
tends to the dishonour of God, the despising 
the ordinances of God among us, the peace 
of the Churches, and seducing the Subjects 
of this Commonwealth from the truth of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ, and perverting the 
strait waies of the Lord, the Court doth fine 
you 30 pounds to be paid, or sufficient sure- 
ties that the said sum shall be paid by the 
first day of the next Court of Assistants, or 
else to be well whipt, and that you shall re- 
main in Prison till it be paid, or security given 
in for it. 

By the Court, 

Enceease Nowell." 



APPENDIX II 

Extracts frura the letter of llohnes to friends 
in London., addressed — 

"Unto the well beloved Brethren, John 
Spilsbniy, William Kiffen, and the rest that 
in London stand fast in that Faith, and con- 
tinue to walk stedfastly in that Order of the 
Gospell which was once delivered unto the 
Saints by Jesus Christ. Obediah Holmes an 
unworthy witness that Jesus is the Lord, and 
of late a Prisoner for Jesus sake at Boston, 
sendeth greeting." After giving an account 
of his conversion, change of religious views 
and arrest by the Plymouth court, in con- 
nection with two others, all of whom were 
severely reprimanded and discharged with- 
out punishment, the letter continues — 

" Not long after these troubles I came upon 
occasion of businesse into the Colony of the 



92 APPENDIX II 

Matliatusets, ^vitli two other Brethren, as 
Brother Clark, being one of the two, can in- 
form 3"ou, where we three were apin-ehencled, 
carried to the prison at Boston, and so to the 
Court, and were all sentenced; what they 
laid to my charge, yon may here read in my 
sentence : Ypon the pronouncing of which I 
went from the Bar, I exprest my self in these 
words : I blesse God I am counted worthy to 
suffer for the name of Jesus; Avhereupon 
John Wilson (their Pastor as they call him) 
strook me before the Judgement Seat, and 
cursed me, saying. The Curse of God or 
Jesus goe with thee ; so we were carried to 
the Prison, where not long after I was de- 
prived of my two loving Friends; at whose 
departure the Adversary stept in, took hold 
on my Spirit, and troubled me for the space 
of an hour, and then the Lord came in, and 
sweetly releeved me, causing me to look to 
himself, so was I stayed, and refreshed in the 
thoughts of my God ; and although during 
the time of my Imprisonment, the Tempter 
was busie, yet it pleased God so to stand at 
my right hand, that the motions were but 



APPENDIX II 93 

midden, and «o vanished away ; and altliougli 
there were that Avould have payd the money 
if I woiikl accept it, yet I durst not accept of 
deliverance in such a way, and therefore my 
answer to them was, that although I would 
acknowledge their love to a cup of cold 
Water, yet could I not thank them for their 
money if they should pay it: so the Court 
drew neer, and the night before I should 
suffer according to my sentence, it pleased 
God I rested and slept quietly ; in the morn- 
ing many Friends came to visit me, desiring 
me to take the refreshment of Wine, and 
other Comforts, but my resolution was not 
to drink Wine, nor strong drink that day 
untill my punishment were over, and the 
reason was, lest in case I had more strength, 
courage and boldnesse than ordinarily could 
be expected, the World should either say he 
is drunk with new Wine, or else that the 
comfort and strength of the Creature hath 
carried him through, but my course was this : 
I desired Brother John Hazell to bear my 
Friends company, and I betook myself to my 
Chamber, where I might communicate with 



94 APPENDIX II 



my God, commit myself to Lim, and beg 
streng-th from him 



'ft 



And when I 

heard the voyce of my Keeper come for me, 
even cheerfuhiesse did come upon me, and 
taking my Testament in my hand, I went 
along with him to the i^lace of execution, and 
after common salutation there stood ; there 
stood by also one of the Magistrates, by 
name Mr. Encrease No well, who for a while 
kejit silent, and spoke not a word, and so did 
I, expecting the Governors presence, but he 
came not. But after a while Mr. Nowell bad 
the Executioner doe his Office, then I desired 
to sjDeak a few words, but Mr. Nowell an- 
swered, it is not now a time to speak, where- 
upon I took leave, [permission] and said. 
Men, -Brethren, Fathers, and Countrey-men, 
I beseech you give me leave to speak a few 
words, and the rather, because here are many 
Spectators to see me j^unished, and I am to 
seal with my Blood, if God give me strength, 
that which I hold and practise in reference 
to the Word of God, and the testimony of 



APPENDIX II 95 

Jesus ; that which I have to say in brief is 
this, Althouo-h I coiifesse I am no Disputant, 
yet seeing I am to seal what I hokl with my 
Blood, I am ready to defend it by the Word, 
and to dis^iute that point with any that shall 
come forth to withstand it. Mr. Nowell an- 
swered me, now was no time to dispute, then 
said I, then I desire to give an account of the 
Faith and Order I hold, and this I desired 
three times, but in comes Mr. Flint, and saith 
to the Executioner, Fellow, doe thine Office, 
for this fellow would but make a long Speech 

to delude the people 

And in the time 

of his pulling of my cloathes I continued 
speaking, telling them. That I had so learned, 
that for all Boston, I would not give my 
bodie into their hands thus to be bruised 
upon another account, yet upon this I would 
not give the hundredth part of a Wampon 
Peague to free it out of their hands, and that 
I made as much Conscience of unbuttonino- 
one button, as I did of paying the 301. in 
reference thereunto ; I told them moreover^ 
the Lord having manifested his love towards 



96 APPENDIX II 

me, in giving me repentance towards GocT^ 
and faith in Jesus Christ, and so to be bap- 
tized in water by a Messenger of Jesus into 
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,, 
wherein I have fellowship with him in his 
death, buiiall, and resurrection, I am now 
come to be baptized in afflictions by your 
hands, that so I may have further fellowship 
with my Lord, and am not ashamed of his 
sufferings, for by his stripes am I healed ;. 
And as the man began to lay the stroaks 
upon my back, I said to the people, though 
my Flesh should fail, and my Spirit should 
fail, yet God would not fail ; so it pleased the^ 
Lord to come in, and so to fill my heart and 
tongue as a vessell full, and with an audible- 
voyce I broke forth, praying unto the Lord 
not to lay this Sin to their charge, and tell- 
ing the people. That now I found he did not 
fail me, and therefore now I should trust him 
forever who failed me not ; for in truth, as 
the stroaks fell upon me, I had such a spirit- 
uall manifestation of God's presence, as the 
like thereunto I never had, nor felt, nor can 
with fleshly tongue expresse, and the outward 



APPENDIX II 97 

pain was so removed from me, that indeed I 
am not able to declare it to yon, it was so easie 
to me, that I conld well bear it, yea and in a 
manner felt it not, althoug-h it was grievous, 
as the Spectators said, the Man striking with 
all his strength (yea spitting on his hand 
three times, as many affirmed) with a three- 
coarded whip, giving me therewith thirty 
stroaks ; when he had loosed me from the 
Post, having joyfulnesse in my heart, and 
cheerfulnesse in my countenance, as the 
Spectators observed, I told the Magistrates, 
you have struck me as with Roses ; and said 
moreover. Although the Lord hath made it 
easie to me, yet I pray God it may not be 
laid to your charge. After this many came 
to me, rejoycing to see the power of the Lord 
manifested in weak flesh ; but sinfull flesh 
takes occasion hereby to bring others in 
trouble, informs the Magistrates hereof, and 
so two more are ai^prehended as for contempt 
of authority, there names were John Hazell 
and John Spur, who came indeed and did 
shake me by the hand, but did use no words 
of contempt or reproach unto any ; no man 



98 ArPEXDix II 

can prove that the first spoke any tiling, and 
for the second, he only said thus, Blessed be 
the Lord ; yet these two for taking me by the 
hand, and thus saying after I had received 
my punishment, were sentenced to pay 40 
shillings, or to be wliipt. Both were resolved 
against paying their Fine : Nevertheless after 
one or two dayes imprisonment, one payed 
John Spurs Fine, and he was released, and 
after six or seven dayes Imprisonment of 
Brother Hazell, even the day when he should 
have suffered an other payed his, and so he 
escaped, and the next day went to visit a 
Friend about 6 miles from Boston, where he 
the same day fell sick, and within 10 dayes 
he ended this life ; when I was come to the 
Prison, it pleased God to stir up the heart of 
an old acquaintance of mine, who with much 
tendernesse, like the good Samaritan, poured 
oyl into my wound, and i^laistered my sores ; 
but there was present information given what 
was done, and inquiry made who was the 
Chirurgion, and it was commonly reported he 
should be sent for, but what was done, I yet 
know not. Now thus it hath pleased the 



ArrENDix II 99 

Father of Mercies so to dispose of the matter, 
that my Bonds and Imprisonments have been 
no hinderance to the Gospel, for before my 
return, some submitted to the Lord, and were 
baptized, and divers were put upon the way 
of enquiry ; And now beino- advised to make 
my escape by night, because it was reported 
that there were Warrants forth for me, I de- 
parted : and the next day after, while I was 
on my Journey, the Constable came to search 
at the house where I lodged, so I escaped 
their hands, and Avas by the good hand of my 
heavenly Father brought home again to my 
neer relations, my wife, and eight children, 
the Brethren of our Town and Providence 
having taken pains to meet me 4 miles in the 
woods, where we rejoyced together in the 
Lord. Thus have I given you as briefly as I 
can, a true relation of things : wherefore my 
Brethren, re Joyce with me in the Lord, and 
give all glory to him, for he is worthy, to 
whom be praise for evermore, to whom I 
commit you, and put uj) my earnest prayers 
for you, that by my late experience, who 
have trusted in God, and have not been de- 



100 APPENDIX II 

ceived, you may trust in him perf ecth^ : where- 
fore my dearly beloved Brethren tiiist in the 
Lord, and you shall not be ashamed, nor 
confounded, so I also rest, 

Yours in the bond of Charity, 

Obediah Holmes." 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INDEX 



Q* 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Acts of the Commissioners of the United 
Colonies, Vol. II. 

Address at the Unveiling of the Statue 
of Roger Williams in Providence, by- 
Prof. J. L. DimaD. 

Allen's Biographical Dictionary— (Sketch 
of Jolm Clarke). 

Annals of the Baptist Pulpit— (Sketch of 
John Clarke), by AVni. B. Sprague, D.D. 

As to Roger Williams, by Henry M. Dex- 
ter, D.D. 

Bancroft's History of the United States, 
Vols. I and II. 

Baptist Quarterly, Vol. X. Article by C. 
E. Barrows, D.D. 

Bryant's Popular History of the United 
States, Vol. II, by William C. Bryant 
and Sidney H. Gay. 



104 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Historical Discourse, by Rev. John Callen- 
cler. 

History of the Baptists, Vol. I, by Isaac 
Backus. 

History of the Baptists, by Tliomas Armi- 
tage, D.D. 

History of the Baptists in New England, 
by Henry S. Burrage, D.D. 

History of the Baptists in the United 
States, by Prof. Albert H. Newman, 
D.D. 

History of Lynn, by Alonzo Lewis. 

History of Lynn, b}- Lewis and Newliall. 

History of New England, Vol. H, by Jolin 
G. Palfrey, D.D., LL.D. 

History of Massachusetts, First Period, 
by J. L. Barry. 

History of Rhode Island, Vol. I, by Samuel 
Greene Arnold. 

Hubbard's History of New England. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 105 

Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts. 

Hutchinson's Collection of Original Pa- 
pers. 

Life of Roger Williams, in Sparks' Am. 
Biogniphy, New Series, Vol. lY, bj^ Prof. 
William Gammell. 

Life of Roger Williams, by Komeo Elton, 
D.D. 

Massachusetts Archives, Vol. H. 

Massachusetts Historical Collections, 
Vol. n. Fourth Series. 

Massachusetts, Its Historians and Its 
History, by Charles Francis Adams. 

Massachusetts Records, Vol. III. 

Memoir of Roger Williams, by Prof. James 
D. Knowles. 

Morton's Memorial. 

Neal's History of New England. 

Newport Church Papers, compiled by Kev. 
John Comer. 



106 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Plymouth Records, Vol. II. 

Puritan Commonwealth, by Peter Oliver. 

Rhode Island Colonial Records, Vol. I. 

Roger Williams, the Pioneer of Religious 
Liberty, by Oscar S. Straus. 

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary, Vol. 

IV— (Sketcli of William Witter). 

Short History of the Baptists, by Prof. 
Henry C. Yedder. 

The Emancipation of Massachusetts, by 
Brooks Adams. 

Winthrop's Journal, Vol. II. 



INDEX 

A. 

Adams, Brooks, 61. 

Aiiabaptisin, charge of, against The Three Rhode 

Islanders, 50, 53 ; charge of, against Roger AVil- 

Hams, 74 ; meaning of, 75, 76 ; confession of faith 

of, (1611), 75. 
Anabaptists, 27; persecutions of, 71. 
Antlnomiaus, 71. 
Arnold's " Histor}^ of Rhode Ishmd" : as to the 

visit, 12 ; as to whipping of Hohiies, 61 ; as to 

Roger Williams, 76. 

B. 

Backus' "History of the Baptists," 11, 41. 
Bancroft's "History of the United States": as to 

the character of Clarke, 24 ; as to whipping of 

Holmes, 61. 
Baptism, Infant : Witter's opinion of, 12 ; law of 

1644 concerning, 20, 34. 
Baptists, hostility to, by Massachusetts, 19, 21, 33, 

38, 45. 



108 INDEX 

Boston, Court of, 35. 
Brewster, Elder. 74. 
Bridg-es, Robert, 47, 87, 88. 

C. 

Callender, Rev. John : as to whipping of Hohnesv 

61 ; as to Clarke, 67 (foot note). 
Catabaptist, 52. 

Churcli of England, 71. 

Clarke, Dr. John : date of his visit to Witter, 7 ; 
object of visit, according to Backus, 11 ; to Ar- 
nold, 12 ; in his own "111 Newes from New Eng- 
land," 13 ; according to Dr. Palfrey, 14, 19-22 ; 
errors of Dr. Palfre}' noted, 23-25 ; real reason 
for leaving Massachusetts, 23 ; character of, bj 
Bancroft, 24 ; Assistant in the government, 25 ; 
object of visit, according to Dr. Dexter, 27 ; sent 
to secure rescinding of Coddington's Commission, 
36 ; a republican, 39 ; statement of, before enter- 
ing church at Swampscott, 48 (foot note) ; own 
account of visit to Mr. Witter, 46. 47, 49 ; charges 
against, 49, 50 ; trial of, 51-53 ; sentence of, 53 ; 
fine paid, 54. 55 ; character of, by John Callender, 
67 (foot note) ; item from will of, 67 (foot note) ; 
death of, 67 (foot note) ; pastor of Newport Bap- 
tist Church, 67 ; treatment of the visit of, sympto- 
matic of prevailing religious spirit. 70-73. 



INDEX 109 

Co<l<linj;toii, William : desires union with Massa- 
chusetts or Plymouth, 15, 16 ; president of Provi- 
dence Plantations, 14 ; application of, for unions 
with colonies, 17; obtains commission, 17-19; 
commission of, the occasion of the visit of the 
three Rhode Islanders, according to Dr. Palfrey, 
19 ; commission vacated, 36 ; its purpose, 36-38 ; 
Dr. Dexter's account of procuring of commis- 
sion of, 26, 27 ; refutation of Dr. Dexter's view, 
28-32 ; opposition to, 36. 39, 40. 

Colonies, confederation of, 14, 15 ; Commissioners 
of, 16, 17 ; as to introduction of Rhode Island 
into, 17, 27, 29, 32, 35-37 ; as to union of :Ne\v- 
port and Portsmouth Avith, 14. 

Comer, John, 42. 

Coniiiiieut, 18, 26. 

Cotton, John : as to Clarke's fine and Holmes' whip- 
ping, 55, (foot note,) 69. 

Council of State : gives commission to Coddington,. 
18, 26 ; rescinds same, 36 ; first meeting of, 30, 31.. 

Councilors of Rhode Island and Conanicut, 18. 

Court of Boston, 35. 

Cranrtall, John : date of visit to Witter, 7 ; object 
of visit, see under Clarke ; as Commissioner for 
Newport, 22 ; sentence of, 53 ; trial of, 51-53 ; his 
fine paid, 54, 55. 
10 



110 INDEX 



D. 



Dexter, Dr. H. M. : author of "As to Roger Wil- 
liams," 8 ; disciple of Dr. Palfrey, 25 ; bis account 
of the visit to Witter, 26 ; errors of his view, 
28-32 ; throws discredit on Newport Church 
Papers, 41, 42; view of, on Witter's age, 43; 
his interpretation of Clarke's own statement as 
to object of the visit, 45 ; his interpretation of 
payment of Clarke's fine, 55 ; his account of 
Holmes' whipping, 61 ; as an historical authority, 
64 ; failure of, to see act of revocation of Roger 
Williams, 83 ; criticism of, 64-66. 

Diinaii, J. L., 72. 

** Disturber of the peace" : meaning of, 70, 73, 77. 

E. 

Eastou, Nicholas, 39. 

Ellis, Dr. Geo. E., 72. 

Eiidicott, Gov. John : at trial of the three Rhode 
Islanders, 52, 53, 64, 65 ; letter to, from Roger 
Williams concerning punishment of Clarke, 69, 
78. 

G. 

Gay, Sidney H., 61. 

H. 

Haynes, Gov., 77. 



INDEX 111 

Hazel, John, 65, 97, 98. 

Historian, duty of, 10. 

Holmes, Obadiah : date of visit of, to Witter, 7 ; 
object of visit, see under Ci.abke ; letter of, to 
John Spilsbury, 13. 91-100 ; trial of, at Plymouth, 
35, 53; trial of, at Boston, 51-53; sentence, 53; copy 
of sentence, 89 ; excommunicated from church at 
Rehoboth, 53 ; tine of, 54, 57 ; whipping of, 57-66 ; 
his own account of the whipping, 57-60 ; accounts 
of Gov. Jeuckes, Dr. Dexter, Dr. Clarke, Dr. Pal- 
frey, 61, 61-64, 61-62, 62-64 ; criticism of Dexter's 
account, 64-66 ; pastor of Newport Baptist church, 
68 ; opinions as to his punishment, 68-70 ; life of, 
68 (foot note) ; extracts from letter of, concerning 
his punishment, 91. 

Hubbard, Samuel : "History of 1680," 42, 66. 

Hutchinson, Gov. : "History of Massachusetts," 67. 

J. 

James I., 71. 

fJenekes, Gov. Joseph, 56 (foot note), 61. 

Johnson's " History of 1654," 66. 

K. 

Kitten, William, 13, 91. 

li. 

Lewis and Newhall's "History of Lynn," 12, 



112 TXDEX 



M. 



3Iassaeliusetts, or Massachusetts Bay : as to an- 
nexation of Rhode Island with, 14, 27, 29, 32, 38, 
39 ; General Court of, 22, 38, 39 ; hostility of, to- 
ward Baptists, seen in its remonstrance at time 
of sentence of Holmes at Plymouth, and in 
Clarke's leaving Massachusetts, 22, 24, 26, 53 and 
54 ; services of Roger Williams to, 81 ; Act of, in 
1676, revoking banishment of Roger Williams, 
79-81, 83. 

Mather, Cotton: "History of 1702," 66. 

3Iilton, John, 76. 

Mittiimis : contents of the, 49, 50 ; copy of the, 87. 

Morton's "Xew England Memorial." 66. 

N. 

Newliall, fiee Lewis. 

Newport : as to its union with the Colonies, 14 ; 
Coddington, as governor of, 19 ; reciuesting re- 
scinding of Coddington's commission, 36. 

Newport Baptist Church, 7, 11, 28. 

Newport Church Papers, 41, 42. 

Nowell, Encrease. 90. 

P. 

Painter, Thomas, 34. 



INDEX 113 

Palfrey, Dr. J. G. : author of " History of New Eng- 
land, " 8 ; purpose of the visit of The Three Rhode 
Islanders, 13, 14 ; views of, on Coddington's letter 
to Winthrop, 15 ; theory of, as to the visit to 
Witter, 19-22 ; errors of his view\ 23-25. 

Partridge, Alexander, 17. 

Pattisoii, Mark, 75. 

Pedobaptist, 52. 

** Petition and Remonstrance" against Law^ of 1644, 
34. 

Plymouth : as to union of Rhode Island with, 15-17 : 
trial of Holmes at, 22, 35, 53. 

Plymouth, Church at : its dismissal of Roger Wil- 
liams, 74. 

Portsmouth : as to its union with Colonial Confed- 
eracy, 14 : Coddington, supreme ruler of, 19 ; 
signing attempt to rescind Coddington's commis- 
sion, 36. 

Providence : alienation of Coddington from, 1(3 ; 
separation of, from Rhode Island, 37. 

Providence Plantations : local disagreements of . 14 ; 
charter to Roger Williams for incorporation of, 
15 ; charter set aside, 18 ; division of, 19 ; division 
of, sought by Coddington, 37 ; division of, resisted, 
39. 

Puritans : as to judgment of, 8, 9 ; religious attitude 
of, 70-73. 

10* 



114 INDEX 

Q. 

Quakers, 71. 

R. 

Keliobotli, 53. 

Itliode Islaud : separate government of, established, 
18; Coddington, governor of, 26; unsettled con- 
dition of, 26 : as to proposed introduction of. into 
Colonial Confederacy, 29 : introduction of, not 
purpose of Coddington, 32, 36, 87 ; separated from 
Providence and WarAvick, 37 : intolerable to Bos- 
ton, 38. 

Kliode Island Plantations. 26. 

S. 

Salem : Cliurch of, 74. 

Saltoiistall, Sir Richard : Cotton's letter to, 55 i^foot 

note) : opinion of, on punishment of Holmes 68, 

69. 
Selileitlilieiiii : confession of faith issued at. 75. 
Sinitli, Edward, 42. 
Smytli, John, 74. 
Si)ilsl)ury, John, 13, 91. 
Spur, John, 65, 97, 98. 
Straujs, Oscar S., 61. 



INDEX llii 



w. 



AVarraiit lor the arrest of Clarke, Holmes and Crau- 
dall, 87. 

AVarwick : alienation of Coddington from, 16; sep- 
arated from Rhode Island, 87. 

AVilliaiiis, Roger : charter to, for incorporation of 
the Providence Plantations, 15, 16; banishment 
of, 24 ; sent to gain the rescinding of Coddington's 
commission, 36 ; letter of. concerning treatment 
of Holmes, 69, 70 ; cause of banishment of, made 
clear by treatment of The Three Rhode Islanders, 
76-83; seen in Arnold's estimate, 76; in charges 
at time of banishment, and in his own statement, 
77 ; established conclusively in Act revoking his 
banishment, 79-83. 

Wilson, John : at trial of Holmes, 53, 65 ; rebuked 
by ^altonstall, 69. 

Winslow, Gov.. 34. 

Wiiitlirop, John : letters to, from Coddington, 15, 
16 ; desire of, to recall Roger Williams, 82. 

AVitter, William : visit of The Three Rhode Islanders 
to, 7 ; object of the visit, i>ee under Clarke ; ar- 
raignment of, for holding Baptist views, 28, 34 ; 
time of visit to, 31 ; sumnum' of evidence against 
a political purpose of the visit, 33-45 ; real reason 
for the visit, 42-44 ; age of, 43. 



PUBLICATIONS 



OF 



PRESTON & ROUNDS, 



PROVIDENCE, R.l. 



History of the State of Rhode Island 

and Providence Plantations^ 

I636-I790. 

By SAMUEL GREENE ARNOLD. 

New Edition. 2 vols. Octavo. 574 and 600 pp. $7.50, net. 



Governor Arnold's History of Rhode Island, based upon a 
carf-ful study of documents in the British State Paper Office 
and in the Rh.ode Island State Archives, supplemented by in- 
vestigations at Paris and The Hague, has from its publication 
been the authoritative history of the State. 

Genealogical students will find in these volumes the names of 
over fifteen hundred persons prominent in Rhode Island affairs. 
This work is of much more than local interest, as the experi- 
ment of religious liberty here tried gives to this history an im- 
portance far beyond the narrow limits of the State. 



" One of the best State histories ever written is S. G. Arnold's His- 
tory of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." — Johm 

FlSKE. 

"The best history of Rhode Island is that of Arnold." — Prof, 
Geokge p. Fisher, Yale University. 

" Mr. Samuel Greene Arnold in his history of Rhode Island has. 
brought together all the extant materials. He brings out more clearly 
than any previous writer the distinct threads of the previous settle- 
ments." - Prof. John A. Dovi.e, Oxford. 

"A work prepared after long and careful research. Probably no- 
student has ever made himself more familiar with the history of Rhode 
Island than did Arnold. This work abounds, therefore, in valuable in- 
formation." — Pkes. Charles Kendall Adams, Cornell University. 



SENT POSTPAID BY THE PUBLISHERS. 
3 



Among Rhode Island Wild 
Flowers* 

By W. WHITMAN BAILEY, 

Professor of Boia?iy, Broiv7i Uiih'ersity. 
Cloth. i6mo. Three full-page Illustrations. 75 cents, net. 



This admirable little volume, the outgrowth of 
the author's ripe experience in teaching and in 
botanizing, contains a popular and interesting 
account of Rhode Island wild flowers as distrib- 
uted throughout the State. The favorite collecting 
grounds are fully described, thus forming a botani- 
cal guide to Rhode Island. 

In writing this volume Professor Bailey has had 
in mind the needs of the nature lover, and has dis- 
carded technical terms as far as possible, adapting 
the work to the amateur as well as the botanist. 

It should be in the hands of every lover of wood- 
land and meadow. 

Forwarded postpaid to any address upon receipt 
of price by the publishers. - 



Tax Lists of the Town of Providence 

During the Administration of Sir Edmund Andres 
and his Council, 

1686-1689. 

Compiled by EDWARD FIELD, A.B., 

Member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and one o/ the 
Record Coiiiinissioncrs of the City of Providence. 

Cloth. Octavo. 60 pp. $1.00, net. 



The " Tax Lists of the Town of Providence " is a compilation 
of original documents relating to taxation during the Adminis- 
tration of Sir Edmund Andros and his Council, 1686-1689. It 
comprises copies of warrants issued by order of the Council for 
the assessment and collection of taxes, the tax lists or rate bills 
prepared pursuant to these warrants, the returns made by the 
townsmen of their ratable property, and the Tax Laws enacted 
by Andros and his Council. All of these, with the exception 
of the laws, are here printed for the first time. 

Among the rate bills is the list of polls for 1688, which con- 
tains the flames of all 7iiales sixteen years of age and npivards 
living in Providence in Augnst of that year ; practically a census 
of the town. For the genealogist and historian this volume con- 
tains material of the greatest value on account of the great num- 
ber of names which these lists contain, besides showing the 
amount of the tax assessment in each case. 

The returns of ratable property form a study by themselves, 
for they tell in the quaint language of the colonists what they 
possess, and therefore shed much light on the condition of the 
times. For a study of this episode in New England Colonial 
History this work is invaluable. 

The index of all names contained in the lists and text is a 
feature of this work. 

The edition is limited to two hundred and fifty numbered 
co|)ies. 

Sent postpaid to any address on receipt of one dollar. 

5 

11 



Early Rhode Island Houses. 

An Historical and Architectural Study by Normnn M. Isuam, Instruc- 
tor in Architecture, Brown University, and Ai.hert F. BKf)\vN, 
Architect. Illustrated with a map and over fifty full-page plates. 
$3.50, net. 

No feature in the study of the early life of New England is 
more valuable or nioie interesting than the areliitecture. Noth- 
ing throws more light on the home life of the colonists than 
the knowledge of how they planned and built their dwellings. 

Early Rhode Island Houses gives a clear and accurate 
account of the early buildings and methods of construction, 
showing the historical development of architecture among tlie 
Rhode Island colonists, the striking individuality in the work 
of the colony and the wide difference between the buildings 
here and the contemporary dwelling in Massachusetts and 
Connecticut. 

Those interested in colonial life may here look into the early 
homes of Rhode Island with their cavernous fireplaces and 
enormous beams. The student will find in these old examples 
a valuable commentary on New England history, while the 
architect will discover in the measurements and analyses of 
construction much of professional interest. 

Among the houses described are the Smith Garrison House 
and the homesteads of the families of Fenner, Olney, Field, 
Crawford, Waterman, Mowry, Arnold, Whipple, and Manton. 

A chapter is devoted to the early houses of Newport, which 
were unlike those of the northern part of the State and resemble 
the old work in the Hartford colony. 

Photographs and measureinents of the dwellings have been 
made, and from them careful plans, sections, and restorations 
have been drawn ; in some cases si.x full-page plates admirably 
drawn and interesting in themselves have been devoted to a 
single house. Several large plates give illustrations of framing 
and other details. It is to be noted that these plates are made 
from measured drawings, that the measurements are given on 
the plates, and that these constitute in most if not all cases the 
only exact records for a class of buildings which is destined to 
disappear at no distant day. It is believed that these drawings, 
and especially the restorations, will give a clearer idea than has 
t'ver before been obtained of the early New England house. A 
map enables the reader to locate without difficulty the houses 
mentioned in the text. 

The authors have discussed the historical relation of Rhode 
Island work to contemporary building in the other New England 
colonies and in the mothe^r country. The book is a mine of 
authentic information on this subject. 

A list of the houses in the State built before 1725, so far as they 
are known, with dates and a brief description will be found in 
the appendix. 

" This book is probably the most valunble historic architectural 
treatise that has as yet appeared in America " — The Nation. 



Revolutionary Defences in Rhoie Island. 



An Historical Account of the Forts and I'-e-icons eiccteii during 
the American Revolution. 



By EDWARD FIELD, A.B., 

Past President of the Rhode Islatui Society of the 
Sons of the Aiiterican Rez'olution. 



NEARLY READY. 



Rhode IsIand^s Adoption of the Federal 
Constitution. 



A Discourse before the Rhode Island Historical Society, at its 

Centennial Celebration of Rliode Island's Adoption 

of the Federal Constitution. 



By HORATIO ROGERS, 

President of the Society. 

Paper. 44 pp. 8vo. 35 cents, net. 

This statement of the reasons which impelled the 
state first to hesitate with anxious deliberation, and 
afterwards freely and fully to abandon its independent 
character, and become an integral part of an indissolu- 
ble nation, is made in such form that it should l)e the 
end of controversy, and the future student of history 
should require no further material for a just and dis- 
criminating conclusion. 



MARY DYER 

Or Khode Island, The Quaker Martyb that was 
Hanged on Boston Common, June 1, 1660. 



By HORATIO ROGERS. Associate Justice 
of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. 



The author has gathered from many sources 
the scattered facts relating to the career of 
Mary D^^er and woven them into a detailed 
narrative, so that the tragic story of her life 
is now for the first time adequatel}^ told. By 
adding a brief but comprehensive sketch of the 
manner and sentiments of her times, he has fur- 
nished a background or framework for his sub- 
ject which adds much to the interest of the 
volume by enabling the reader, the better to 
understand the surroundings of the characters 
he portrays. The important documents relat- 
ing to her trial are printed in the appendix. 

Cloth, 12mo., 115 pages. Price $1.00 net. 
Sent postj)aid upon receipt of the price by the 
publishers. 



THE EAST INDIA TRADE 

OF PROVIDENCE, 

From J 787 to J 807. 



BY GERTRUDE SELWYN KIMBALL. 



By a careful study of log books and com- 
mercial palmers of the old shipping firms, the 
author is enabled to present an interesting 
picture of the East India Trade of Providence 
in its palmy days. 

8vo. 34 pages, paper, 50 cents net. 

Sent postpaid on receipt of price. 



THE MAGAZINE 

....OF.... 

NEW ENGLAND HISTORY. 

FOR t89I, tS92, 1893, 



Having purchased the few reinaiiiiug complete 
sets of the Magazine of New EugLaucl History, 
originally published at $5.00, we offer the three 
volumes in parts as issued for $2 50 net per set 
or bound in one volume, cloth, for $3.50 net. 

These volumes contain nearly eight hundred 
pages of information relating to New England 
local, church and family histor}^ including 
records, genealogies, journals, letters and many 
interesting notes and queries. 



WHAT CHEER 

— OK— 

ROGER WILLIAMS IN BANISHMENT. 

A PoE.M UY .lOB DIJIIFKE. 

Revised and edited b.v Tiio.M.vs Dckfeic. 

Cloth, Leather Label, 12 mo., 22.", pages. Puicii .fl.2."> NET 

10 



Topographical atlas 



STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE 
PLANTATIONS. 



By the United States Geological Survey, in co-operation 
with the State. 



Haviug secured the reniaiuiug copies of this Atlas we offer 
them at the following reduced prices. 

In sheets, $1.00 

In portfolio, 2.00 

Bound in cloth, 2.50 

A few bound in half morocco remain and can be furnished 
for $3.50. 

The plates of this Atlas were eugraved upon copper in the high- 
est style of cartographic engraving by the United States Govern- 
ment and furnished to the State. From these plates transfers were 
made to stone and the maps printed in four colors, viz : The names, 
roads, railroads and other culture features are in black. Rivers, 
ponds, swamps and other water features are in blue. Contour lines 
and figures denoting elevation are in brown. State, county and 
town boundaries are in pink over the u)ore ^xact boundaries in black 
or bhie. 

Besides showing all bodies of water and watercourses, common 
roads or highways and railroads, ii has one feature distinct from 
and superior to any map of the State hitherto published, viz: 
Contour lines, drawn for each 20 feet of elevation above mean sea 
level, Figiu'es are placed upon the heavier contour lines which 
denote elevations of 100 feet, 200 feet, etc., above mean sea level, 
also uj)on hills and bodies of water to denote their elevation. A 
contour line indicating 20 feet depth of water be'.uio mean sea level 
ia drawn along the coast. In a few cases figures are given to in- 
dicate depths of water of less than 20 feet. 

This Atlas includes 12 maps and 10 pages index and statistics 
in all 22 sheets 21x16'... The scale of the survey is -g.^l__ or one 
mile to an inch. 



II 









-m 



m 



wmm^^ 




4^ . 






■-■«# 



■^* 










■i 



■^m. 















LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

I Iff' Bill fJI/IJMliiniiii „»„,., 




014 068 966 A 



H 


■ ':'■< yifT' 






•':■' •'':'', 




/ ;.,\ 


''^^1 


■f.\£; 


'^'^^1 



:>*!'l^>''.'-V'V-''':!;^.'': 



■ ;■■-<•,> '**.l\:' 






^^'■■mm 






